Running with Wolves Ch. 10

"Hey, Augustine?" Pearl looked a bit sheepish as she came back. "Do you mind taking over here for me? There's something I need to take care of, and it can't wait."

Augustine's eyes went a bit wide. "Oh, well if you need me to, I don't mind." She glanced over to Ben. "I mean, if you don't mind, that is."

Ben looked a bit off put by the idea, but responded with a shrug. "Whatever. Doesn't matter to me." Augustine's wolf whined at his lack of interest. He didn't even really look at her.

Pearl caught the look of hurt on her friend's face and sent her a brief feeling of comfort. "Thanks, I really appreciate it." She very quickly left with the other wolf, chattering away.

Once left alone, the awkward silence had a chance to take hold. Augustine wanted very badly for Ben to like her but she had no idea what to say to him, and he wasn't offering any topics of conversation. They just stood in the hallway, staring at random areas of the corridor.

"The kitchen." Augustine started when Ben suddenly spoke.

"What?"

"The kitchen. That's where Pearl was taking me. I need to get back soon so if we could just hurry this up?"

Augustine felt another twinge in her heart. Was he really so eager to get away from her?

"Oh. Alright well, the kitchen is this way."

They began walking through the Den, continuing on with the silence and awkward atmosphere. It was made worse by the fact that every pack member that they passed, Ben glared at them as if they had all offended his mother or something. Augustine could feel everyone's eyes following them around the Den. No doubt her mother would be fully informed within the hour.

When they finally did make it to the kitchen, Augustine was beginning to wonder why they were there. It seemed odd that Ben would want to be there, seeing as how all his meals were taken to him.

Rose, the lead cook and one of the oldest members of the pack, came forward as the two of them passed through the kitchen doors. She was a kind soul, but could turn mean real quick if you messed with her; the pack both loved her dearly and feared her greatly. Next to her was one of her grandpups, Daisy, who was apprenticing under her.

"Augustine, sweetheart, its good to see you. And this must be one of the human Destines I have yet to meet. I do hope you have been enjoying the meals I have been sending up to you?"

Ben never lost the look of suspicion on his face, but his body language did seem to loosen up while he spoke with Rose. It made Augustine's wolf rise up in aggravation. She didn't even realize she was growling until Rose took a step back and the scent of fear entered her nose sharply. Augustine realized it was coming from Ben.

"I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to overstep on your mate. Was there something you needed, Ben?" Rose never made direct eye contact with either of them, knowing it would set Augustine off again. The rest of the kitchen staff began giving a wide berth as well.

"Dog food" was Ben's gruff response. It threw everyone in the kitchen a bit that he would be asking for something like that.

"What? Our food not good enough for you or something?" Daisy's voice was snarky. It sent Augustine's wolf into a fit of rage, but she did everything she could to keep it contained. Ben was already off put by her growling; she didn't think he would appreciate a full on fight.

"Do you have any or not?" Ben's scent was changing again. He was becoming agitated, and his adrenaline was kicking in along with it. It seemed he was the type that was quick to the trigger.

Rose intervened before anything could happen. She explained that a few years back a pup had found a feral dog in the city and had brought it home to the Den, along with some cans of dog food. It had died not too long after, and they had some cans left in the very back corner of the pantry. She sent Daisy to go retrieve them, and soon both Ben and Augustine were on their way out of the kitchen and back towards the Alpha's Wing.

Augustine's mind was spinning with confusion. She had heard that Ben was a bit aggressive and had seen for herself briefly how he could be when cornered, but she had thought after all this time he would have loosened up a bit. He was cold, somewhat rude, and nothing but a scowl ever graced his otherwise handsome face. Plus, asking a were for kibble or treats was considered a great insult. They were werewolves, not house pets.

Augustine had always been attracted to males with a sense of humor, or a good bit of charm. It had been the one thing that had drawn her to Lark. He could be very charming when the moment suited him. She had never really been into broody types, and Ben was all brood. He had yet to not glare at anyone that walked by. Plus, he wouldn't really engage in conversation with her, even when she attempted to make small talk, he would simply shut down or ignore her outright. Her wolf was becoming more and more frustrated that Ben was not giving her the attention she so craved from her mate.

Augustine began to feel doubt creeping in. What if Lark was right? Not about being mates with him, but about her feelings towards Ben? What if she wasn't actually feeling the mating pull? It would explain why he had absolutely no reaction to her whatsoever, and why his personality did match anything she was attracted to. It would explain a lot.

But even as she thought it, the scent of him rose up from the jacket he had loaned her. It made her head get fuzzy, and her wolf hum with pleasure. No, he was her mate, she just had to accept it and make it work.

As they approached the entrance to the Alpha Wing, Augustine made one final attempt to push through and make some progress with him. Ben was pushing the doors open when she finally convinced herself to speak. "Would you mind if I came with you?"

Ben turned around, surprise breaking up his face. "Why?"

Augustine took her chance. "I was actually on my way to see you this morning when I ran into Lark. I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind sitting down and talking with me for a while. Maybe get to know each other, that kind of thing."

Ben still looked a bit confused, but at least the hardness had left his face. He again didn't say anything, but moved aside to give her room to enter the Wing. She was surprised he had agreed, but didn't pause entered into the Wing without comment.

They moved on until finally coming across a room that smelt heavily of humans and, to Augustine, Ben. There were others in the room already, those Augustine recognized as Ben's pack mates. The blond with gray eyes, Garrett, and the black-haired female Samantha, were sitting on the floor by the coffee table, a shoebox set in front of them. The dark-skinned boy, Jarod, was holding the baby while he read a book on a nearby chaise.

In an adjoining room, Augustine could scent Dominic, as well as Misty. It seemed she had come for a visit as well.

"I got what they had. It will work just fine." Ben walked up to the table, kneeling down next to Samantha. Augustine could feel her jealousy rise with how close they were sitting, but the human female smelt of Dominic so it helped to settle the instinct to defend her rights to her mate. For the moment.

"Are you sure this will work? He looks so sick." Samantha reached for the box and lifted the lid. From the scent that floated over to Augustine, it was some sort of bird.

"Yeah it will. He just hasn't eaten for a day or so and is weak. A few hours of proper feeding and he should show improvement." Ben lifted the lid to the wet dog food and began stabbing at it with a spoon, then adding water to it to make it soupy. The scent of the mush suddenly assaulted Augustine's nose and she gagged, pulling the collar of Ben's hoodie to her nose.

"Who are you?" All eyes turned at one time to Augustine. It seemed none of the others had even realized she was there.

"She showed me how to get to the kitchen."

Jarod moved closer to his people, whispering without realizing that Augustine could hear him just fine. "Dude, isn't that the one who?..."

Ben nodded, never taking his eyes off his task of filling what looked to be a feeding syringe, one that Doc Rivers would use to force feed medicine to pups, with the brown mush. "Her name is Augustine."

"Are you cool with this?" Garrett was appraising Augustine with a cool stare, taking her in as neither friend nor foe, but just someone standing in his doorway.

Ben bit his lip, then nodded his head. "You heard what Dominic said last night. We gotta see how this plays out." That seemed to be the queue the others were waiting for. Obviously they had had a talk after Aunt Sol spoke to them the day before. Maybe with Dominic becoming a werewolf, they had decided there was no point holding out anymore?

Samantha sat up straighter and addressed her directly. "I'm Samantha. This is Garrett, Jarod, and my daughter Penny. It's nice to meet you."

Augustine nodded to all of them. "Augustine Five Rivers." Slowly she entered the room, the smell of the dog food dulling over time. "What are you doing?"

Garrett shrugged. "We found it yesterday and Samantha wanted to try and save it. Ben says he knows how to feed it, so we figured why not."

Augustine's eyebrows shot up. "You wanted the food, to try and save a baby bird?"

Ben blushed a bit and seemed to hunch in on himself. She thought it was adorable when he did that. "It's not hard. I just used to do it as a kid." He reached into the box and lifted out the tiny naked fledgling in his hand and began teaching Samantha how to feed it.